


Part-Time Crystal Gem

by zurpocalypse



Category: Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: But Mainly Friendship And Fun, Fluff, very slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-05-25 06:48:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6184831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zurpocalypse/pseuds/zurpocalypse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The part-time hero's are teleported to a tranquil city right beside a beach. Beach City to be exact. With their mission to complete, a boy with a yellow star on his shirt quickly befriends them and gets them side tracked. Doesn't help that their enemy comes and quickly makes a mess of things.<br/>Will the trio complete their mission? Or will the tiny boy have other plans for them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beachside Story

**Author's Note:**

> I love PZPTH to death! The art is amazing, the jokes are hilarious and clever and the characters are all so adorable! This show has a good story line so far, but I hope that it'll lead to something far bigger later on.

"You know what would be great?" The redhead asked his friends as they walked into the movie theatre.

"What?"

"A nice, relaxing day at the beach."

"Way ahead of you dude," Boone added as he made a paper fan from his Algebra II homework. The group had strayed from their usual attire into less heat retained apparel such as shirts and shorts.

"For once I actually agree with you guys," the Japanese teen said as she wiped away beads of sweat from her head.

"I wish I could take you guys, but my aunt would rather have me go out in the billion degree weather and help her trim the garden." He rolled his eyes in annoyance. "She's making me get rid of the weeds and roses. But it sucks! Think of me clipping away pink roses with a girly sun hat! And don't get me started on the thorns! Because I will get started," he said as he waved his pricked hands at his friends.

"I've gone through worse," Sashi commented. Referring to when her mom made her garden. It was her first and last time doing so.

On another note, Penn wrapped his right arm around Boone's neck, nearly choking him. "Can you imagine it, mi amigo!" He exclaimed. "Building sandcastle as high as the sky, cool waters on our skin, surfing on the tides, watching the sun fall into twilight. And best of all... The beach babes," he said with a wiggle of his brows on the last part.

Boone nodded. "All very good. But let's not forget the ice cream man serving us soft served sweets on a waffle cone." He licked his lips as he imagined endless scoopes of ice cream on his cone.

"And maybe I'll finally get to punch a shark!" Sashi said as she punched her fist into her hand. "It's been on my bucket list since I was 5." She also mentioned wanting to wrestle a rock, skydive onto Earth from space and arm wrestle with a bear. Expected of Sashi, yet still terrifying for the two.

The three made their ways to the landing pad and stood on their usual spots. Penn in the middle with Boone on his right and Sashi to his left.

"I hope you bring sunblock with you. You'll need it for mission." Phyllis said at her usual spot on the balcony. She had worn her usual overalls and goggles atop her head. How could she stand being near all those heated machines in this weather?

"Where are we headed this time?" Boone asked as he fanned himself with the folded paper fan.

Phyllis pulled the lever and watched as the orb lifted the teens. "Oh, I think location will satisfy you."

Penn gasped with glee. "Really? Are we going to a beach world? Tell me Phyllis! Please! I wanna know! Please!"

"Don't wet yourself with excitement. And don't loose track of mission. Good luck." She stated as they teleported to their next destination.

Funny. Phyllis rarely gave them a mission they actually wanted. Would the trio have time to leisure about on this rare occasion? Or will it be too good to be true?


	2. Dirty Dancing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I combined my two top cartoon shows into one fanfic. I've added a few head cannons here and there but not so that it'll disrupt the plot. I hope you enjoy this crossover :D

"Heck yeah! We're on a beach, baby!" Penn cheered as he jumped with excitement.

A bright, golden sun shone tepid rays onto the beach. Brisk winds picked up the sent of salt into the air. Sand spread for miles like a bed of caramelized sugar and the ocean stretched beyond the horizon of the crystal blue sky. A few white clouds were plastered onto the sky. Mini waves softly rolled onto the shore to the breezy wind. With this beautiful weather, there would normally be a swarm of people. However, the scene was as barren as a desert.

Penn scanned the peaceful scenery for any sign of human contact. "Where's the crashing waves? The surfers? The beach babes?"

"Where's the ice cream man?" Boone added as he tried to scout for an ice cream truck. Instead, he was more interested in their apparel. "Though I am lovin' your 'fro and shades, Sashi," said the Wiseman. "You look like a '70's Kung-Fu master and I look like a total rockstar!" He exclaimed on the last part as he stuck out his tongue and swayed his long, lavender hair.

"I look like a pastel ballerina," Penn commented as he played with the blue frill on his shirt. He twirled a few times before having posed with his hands stretching the frill and his knees slightly bent. "Hey, do you guys think I'm soft on the eyes?" He said as he batted his eyes rapidly.

Sashi gave him a deadpan remark about him looking like a crayon.

Boone then noticed something shimmering on the top of Penn's forehead. It appeared to be some kind of white mineral. He pointed and said, "Dude, you have a rock on you forehead!"

Penn darted his eyes upward and tapped in the smooth pearl. He was in awe as to why a rock had formed on his body. Was he some sort of experiment gone wrong? A rock-humanoid? Penn had noticed that his best friend also had a strange crystal on his chest. Why?

"They're called gems. And they're part of our bodies. See," Sashi explained as she showed them the gems on both her palms. "We use them to access our weapons." She smashed her fists together. As they pulled apart, giant gauntlets magically covered her fists. Both men were blown away by the action preformed. They quickly disappeared once they examined them.

Boone commented, "Well, those gems sure look pretty handy." He and Penn giggled at the joke.

Sashi rolled her eyes, though she admitted that the joke was cleverly timed.

"Alright Sash, check the specks."

Sashi held onto the edge of her shades as it projected their mission. The trio are ancient alien warriors and guardians to a child with a star shape on his belly. They need to protect the kid for 24 hours from a monster that's trying to use his power for world domination. The mission sounded simple enough. Find the kid and keep him out of harms way for the day. Though finding him would be the tricky part. He could be anywhere. Miles away, maybe on the other side of the ocean. Where could the child possibly be-

"Garnet! Amethyst! Pearl! I got the donuts!" Shouted a disembodied voice. They turned their heads and spotted a boy running towards them with a large bag in his hands. His short, black locks bounced as he ran towards them with a bag in his hands. The sound of his sandals clapped against his heels grew louder as he got closer. Their focus was brought on the yellow star on the child's shirt. Once he reached them, with an enormous smile, he beamed, "The Big Donut had a great deal today. Buy two donuts and get another two for free," he exclaimed gleefully. The child handed a chocolate donut to the Wiseman. Without as much as a second thought, Boone grabbed the donut, thanked the boy and ate it.

Sashi called Penn in a loud whisper to grab his attention. "That's the kid. The one we're supposed to protect."

Penn thanked the boy for bringing the donuts. "What's your name?" He asked.

"What are you talking about? You know my name."

"We do?" Penn glanced back for help from his confused friends. He decided to improvise. "I mean... Yes! We do know! It's just that we'd prefer if you reminded us so that... we... can... remember how to spell it when we eat alphabet soup."

"Okay?" Said the confused the boy. He thought that the Pearl he knew hated to eat, but who's he to judge. "It's Steven Universe."

"Steven... Universe?" Boone repeated. Steven nodded. "Like, as in The Universe? Its your official surname? It's written on your birth certificate?"

"Guys! Remember what Phyllis said." Sashi had referred to their boss instructing them to stay focused on their mission. "We have to stay focused."

"Alright Steven," Penn said as he ruffled the boy's hair. "We should get you home."

Steven whined. "Do we have to? It's such a nice day outside and I want to feed the sharks." He explained that the reason why sharks are mean is because they haven't enjoyed the deliciousness of the donut. He believed that the sweetness would change the sharks attitude from mean to friendly.

"We can feed the sharks later. Right now, we need to get you home." The trio formed a line behind the boy like a train. "C'mon. You can lead the way."

Steven had led them around a hill on the far end of the beach. The team stared in awe at the enormous carving of a temple woman with four arms. Some people would pay thousands, maybe even millions of dollars to have a rustic beach house like the one built beside the figure. They climbed the creaky steps and made their way to the door. Steven opened the door for his friends and shut the door behind him. The boy immediately ran to the counter and threw the donuts there. He then climbed the steps to his room. He pulled out a large, rectangular box from under his bed and climbed back down.

"Why don't we play a board game since we're here?" He asked. The pink and black box had depicted a cat-alien creature fleeing from a fleet of flying saucers. In large pink letters, it read Cookie Cat's Great Escape.

Penn had wanted to say something, but Sashi interrupted him. "Sorry, no-can-do. We have some urgent business to attend to." She pulled the teens by the arm back outside on the porch, leaving Steven inside by himself.

"What the heck Sashi," Penn as he rubbed his arm. "He just wanted to play with us."

"We shouldn't spend so much time on this kid. We should be out there looking for Rippen or whoever is out to get us. The sooner we hit, the sooner we'll complete the mission."

"Yeah, but-."

"Boone," Sashi called. "Your with me on this one right?"

Before Boone could answer, they heard a thud from their left. Steven had pressed his face against the window to check on the heroes. He fogged the glass with his breath and made a heart shape with his finger.

"Sorry Sashi, but I'm with Penn on this. Kids at his age need to be nurtured by their elders and need to play for their brains to develop. " He added, "Plus, he's kind of our son so we need to be there for him."

Sashi groaned in annoyance. He did make a good point though. "Fine. You two can take care of him while I go and survey the area." She smashed her fists together to reveal her gauntlets again. "I'll be back in a couple hours," she added as she jumped to the bottom of the steps. She ran round to the corner of the hill and ran toward the line of shops.

The duo wondered how their female friend was able to activate her weapon. For a short while they tried by smashing their fists, tapping their gems, chanting random words, and even striking different poses in hopes to get something. Nothing happened. Frustrated, they had hoped that maybe their trouble would end if they decided to do some sort of dance. Steven had watched the two try to activate their weapons, but thought they were doing something else.

He slammed the door opened and shouted, "Ohmigosh are you trying to fuse?"

Boone shook his head. "Probably?"

"We're just having some trouble accessing our weapons. Think you can help us?"

Steven tried his best on explaining how it worked in his point of view from his first lesson with Pearl. From the way saw it, Steven saw Pearl concentrate for a bit before pulling her sword from her head. He explained that she needed to mimic the improvised, but choreographed movements of a falling petal. Amethyst was able to activate hers freely without much effort. Though Garnet explained that she needed they needed to concentrate the energies of the universe in her gems. Simply put it, try hard without trying. Penn and Boone had both gotten the idea that they needed to do some sort of dance to summon their weapons. Not a problem since both teens had skill in cutting a rug. The three made their way down the stairs for more room.

Penn and Boone stood face-to-face a few feet apart from each other as Steven sat on the sidelines on the sand. Boone stiffened his arms and, in choppy movements, slid his feet toward his friend. Penn got on the tips of his toes and twirled his body with his arms stretched out. He kept in mind to be like a falling petal. Graceful, fluid, elegant, delicate. It was a bit hard to concentrate when his friend decided to drop and shake his posterior. When he got closer to his friend, Penn noticed that their gems began to glow. He figured that the dance was working its magic. Steven stared with intrigue and awe as their bodies and gems began to glow brighter. Boone grabbed Penn's hand and back and dipped him for the finale. Their bodies slowly mashed together in a bright, fluid light. They stretched upward as a single anatomy began to form and the light had begun to die down.

The looked down at its hands to find its weapon. "Wh-Where's my weapon?" Strange. They're voices sounded softer. Low and behold, nothing appeared. Except for another pair of hands. They gasped with distraught. "W-W-W-Why d-d I have f-four hands?" It stuttered. "A-And why am I so tall?" The statuesque figure examined its body. It's lavender pigmentation and white hair was similar to Boone's. Yet, why was Penn's gem on its forehead. It felt its gem on its chest, where they had come to the same conclusion. "W-W-We're a... a-"

"Giant woman!" Steven exclaimed. It had been so long since he's seen the statuesque woman that he couldn't contain his glee. He waved his hands at the being and shouted, "Hi Opal!"

Opal? Had their dance been so in-sync that they morphed into one being? Their contradicting mind had created conflict within themselves, "Why are you in my body!? Wait... This is my body. No, it's... Ugh!.. What's going on?!"

They allowed the child to climb onto the palm of their hands and brought him up to their eye level. Their fatigue made Steven worry for them. "Why are you guys so upset? You've done this before, remember?"

"We have?" Steven nodded. "Yes! We have!.. This... This is normal." They took a deep breath to calm themselves down. They had unintentional pressed Steven to their chest and pet his head with their other pair of hands. This was a trait that Penn developed when he was stressed. He would grab his teddy bear and cuddle with it until he felt at ease. They immediately released their grip when he asked for air. "Sorry. I guess I'm not acting like myself today," they remarked.

Steven laughed. "I could tell."

They chuckled. "Hey, you're not supposed to agree with me," they said as they playfully pinched his cheek. "Now, how do we get back to nor-."

Unexpectedly, they heard a loud splash from the ocean. Before they could see what it was, a blue, vine like figure swapped itself around the giants wrist and tried to pulp them toward the ocean, causing Steven to fall onto the sand. The thing wrapped around their wrists was completely made of water. How was it possible? It seemed that something far from them had summoned this deliberately. The pulled back with all their might, but the tentacle had only taken them further and further until their legs were completely submerged. Then, they was able to cut the water flow from one of their four limbs with a slice of their hand. They were able to free another hand and and the rest. Then, they felt their bodies had begun to separate. It could have been Boone's morbid fear of water that tried to separate them enough to fall apart. Penn's conscious tried desperately to calm his friend. Unfortunately, another one of the watery limbs had gotten a hold of Steven and carried him past them.

"Opal! Help!" Steven cried.

It was then that they had formed back into the lavender skinned woman. They lunged for the boy and managed to grab his torso, cutting the limb before any damage could have been caused. He was drenched, but he seemed fine. When it seemed that things had ceased, a giant hand formed from the waters. Steven had tried to form a bubble but was unable todo so since he'd never made one so large. Yet, almost instinctively, Opal used the top pair of hands to reach for the gem on its forehead and the bottom pair reached for their chest. Their gems had glowed as they pulled out their weapons, a sword and whip. As soon as they summoned them, their weapons morphed into a bow. They pulled the string back as a bright arrow had begun to form. Opal had launched the arrow onto the direction that heard had came from. Once they had thrown the weapon, the hand had disintegrated. They waited a few moments as they anticipated for another strike.

Both parties were relieved that the attack stopped. They thought that they had defeated the source of this nonsense. Though, the teens had never felt better. It seemed that with two people in one you feel twice as reconciled. They made their way back to the house. As Opal reached for shore, the arrow had broken from the water and headed straight toward them. 

Steven caught sight of it, jumped out from their hand and shouted, "Watch out!" He crossed his arm across his chest and wielded a pink shield that he had summoned. The arrow had been crushed by its own force and splashed back onto the water. Opal was able to catch Steven before he fell onto the water. They immediately ran back to shore.

"I wonder what that was all about," Steven as they let him down. "You don't think-"

As soon as they got out the water, their conjoined body began to separate. The same glow that brought them together had split the two from each other. Penn laid on his back just a couple feet from his friend. He sat himself up and saw the look of total disbelief on Boone's face. Even the hero didn't know how to feel about what had just happened. Of course Penn was familiar with sharing a body with someone else, his arch nemesis nonetheless, but not to where they were both conscious. He felt mush greater power than he had before. Invigorating power and strength. The thought of it sent shivers down his spine. Did his friend feel the same way? Strangely enough, Boone cracked a nervous smile. It didn't take long before they noticed their weapons in their hands.

Steven stared in confusion as the two friends laughed in the summer sand.


	3. Surf N' Turf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spring is approaching...

Penn, Boone and Steven sat on the wooden floor as they played the board game in front of them. They had played for a while to get their mind off of earlier a events, until Sashi returned. Steven had just earned enough money to add another cookie cat factory to his franchise. As Boone took his turn, deciding wether to invest in Stevens company, Penn scanned the room.

Off the corner of his eye, Penn noticed a large painting above the door frame. In the portrait was a painting of a woman with her hands folded together. Pink gloss carefully smeared her plump lips. Her skin was fair like her white dress. And her curls were large and voluminous. Pink like the summer roses in the garden behind his house. She carried a caring and affable aura when he laid eyes on her. What was out of the ordinary was the rose colored gem protruding from her belly button. Were gem piercings a fashion statement in this dimension? Or could she have been part of this team? The founder? The previous leader?

Steven caught Penn ogling at the portrait. "Pearl, it's your turn," he said as he handed the dice to him.

Once the boy dropped the dice into his palm, he said, "Thanks Ros-I mean Steven! Thanks Steven." He laughed nervously.

Thankfully, the boy hadn't caught the mishap. Where did that name come from? The name was foreign to him, yet, it escaped so naturally from his lips. Maybe the portrait had a clue. He had wanted to know who the beautiful woman with pink curls was, but decided to keep his mouth shut. He figured that with the boy growing suspicious of them already, he needed to be more careful with his words. After a few more turns, they heard the front door open.

"Welcome back, Garnet," Steven greeted. The other two followed.

"Did you find anything?" Penn asked.

Sashi shook her head. "Its unbelievable how many people I interrogated." With her fingers, she counted the amount of people she talked to. She talked to the two workers at the donut shop, the owner of the fry shop, the local DJ, twins, the amusement park worker and the mailman. Though, they hadn't spoken for long since he was too nervous to complete his sentence. She even spoke to the mayor and his son. "And yet, I got nothin'."

"Don't worry Sash, we'll find them eventually," Boone said as he walked toward the fridge. He grabbed the bag of donuts and reached inside for one. "Or they'll save us the trouble and come to us."

"Ohmigosh! The donuts!" Steven exclaimed. "Don't eat them all, Amethyst. They're for the sharks." Suddenly, Steven had realized that he forgot to feed the sharks. He dashed toward the window and saw that the sun had barely set. "Can we go out, please?" He asked.

"No!" They all shouted in unison.

"W-Why not?"

"Because you're in danger," Sashi blurted.

Penn immediately covered her mouth with his hands and added, "In danger of catching a cold! We don't want you getting sick." Sashi slapped his hands away.

It was the middle of summer. How could he possibly catch a cold? But, nothing seemed to make any sense at this point. He just wanted some answers. "Is there something going on that I don't know about?" He asked.

The kid was onto them. Penn tried to improvise as much as he could. "No-No-No! Of course not," Penn answered nervously. "I-Its not like... Uhh..."

Boone tried to help his stuttering friend. "It's not like we're keeping secrets from you 'cuz you're in a life threatening situation or anything."

"W... What?"

The redhead glared at him. "Thanks a lot, Amethyst," he growled. Boone simply darted his eyes away from his enraged friend. "Don't listen to that nonsense. The donuts are just getting to his-her head."

Steven was more confused than ever. He placed his hand on the door as if he was about to run out at any second. A pleading look was plastered on his face. "Why are you guys acting so weird? I just wanted to go outside."

"Steven, no means no! Now take your hand from the handle this instant young man!" In that moment, Penn actually felt like a strict parent. More like a mom than a dad honestly.

To him, Pearl seemed more hostile than usual. Maybe there was more to this than what they were letting off. "But Pearl, why-!"

Out of the blue, they heard a loud crash just outside the door. They all ran outside and spotted that cause of the sound. A porcelain bathtub had smashed into the wooden staircase in front of the house. Who could have done this? Could it have been the same thing who controlled the water earlier? A few moments later, they heard a disturbance in the water. A small, rustic boat had been thrown out of the ocean and headed towards them. Boone quickly grabbed the boy as they jumped off the porch and onto the sand just before the boat crashed onto the porch. Once Boone set Steven down, they all heard a fiendish, maniacal laughter. It was obvious who their enemy was. Sashi spotted a small sail boat at the edge of a dock in front of the residence. The trio sprinted toward the boat in front of the dock. Before long, the child had caught up to them.

"Steven, get back inside. It's too dangerous," Penn exclaimed.

Steven looked at the other two with a wanting look. He didn't want to be left behind and hoped the other two would be on his side. The yearning in his face proved how much he wanted to go.

Boone, with remorse in his tone, said, "Go to the house."

"Listen to us, Steven. It's for your own good," Sashi added, with equal guilt.

"Please, I have to go. I have the shield. I can protect all of us."

Sashi continued, "And we need to protect you. We can't let anything happen to you."

Penn's words had no affect on the strong-willed boy. Tears had begun to form on the corners of his eyes. "B-But Pearl, I'm a Crystal Gem too!" He exclaimed as he pulled up his shirt, which revealed a pink gem on his stomach. "I'm part of the team. Please, let me help you."

Remarkable. Steven had the same gem as the woman on the portrait, even in the same place. How? Were they related? Penn wanted to know more. Who was she? Why did she leave such an impact on him? Does the boy have anything to do with her? Even so, Penn's patience began to wear thin. "Get inside the house right this instant or your grounded!"

"Pearl please! I wanna help you!"

"I can't let anything happen to you, Rose!"

They stared at each other with eyes widened with shock and confusion. He let himself slip up again. They watched as tears rolled down Steven's cheeks. Penn couldn't stand to waste anymore time. He pulled out a sword from his gem and sliced the rope. They drifted farther and farther as the boy's please grew inaudible. Eventually, Steven went back inside his home, back lowered and arms limp. Silence weighed down on the trio until the city was nothing more than a thin streak.

"What happened back there?" Asked Boone.

Penn shrugged his shoulders. Where did the name come from? He doesn't know anyone with that name, yet, he felt that he's known it for years. And with the name came nostalgia. Was all of it just motherly instinct? Was there more than what the mission offered?

Sashi placed a hand on his shoulder, "You did the right thing." A crooked smile formed from his lips.

"Foolish children! Do you honestly think you could get the best of me?"

That voice was immediately recognizable. It was undoubtably their arch nemesis. The voice with the British accent belonged to none other than Rippen. They all shot up on their feet and scanned the perimeter for their foe. Nothing but an eerily calm ocean. Where was the voice coming from?

"Looking for me would be a waste of time. I'm everywhere. I'm in the ocean, I'm in the air you breath in, I'm even in your head."

"We'll that's kinda creepy," Boone remarked.

"Rippen!" Penn called out. "Show yourself!"

"As much as I would love to do that, I have a meeting elsewhere."

"Rippen~ I thought you were gonna do the thing," an additional voice whined. Based on its childlike manner, it was Larry's voice. "You promised."

They could visualize his eye roll. "Ugh. Fine, I'll do it. What did the ocean say to the other ocean?"

They three gave confused looks to other. "Uh, oceans can't talk," Sashi commented.

"True. But they can wave!" He laughed.

A large wave had rapidly rolled toward them. They pedaled as fast as they could, but were consumed by the surf. As Sashi and Boone made it to the surface, Penn caught a glimpse of something beyond the dark abyss. The dark figure quickly swam toward the direction of the city like a torpedo. He made it back up to find that their boat had capsized to its side.

"You see, Rippen. It wasn't a bad idea after all."

"Good call, Larry," Rippen laughed. "Now, to fetch the boy." The annoying maniacal laughter had begun to fade away.

The Odyssey trio needed to get back to the temple before Rippen does. Boone had swum toward the back of the boat and held on to the dagger. He hoisted the dagger up and down for a while until the boat returned to its upright position. He pulled himself into the boat and pulled in his friends. When asked how he knew what to do, he just stated that he and his parents go fishing a lot.

With little time to spare, they quickly rowed the boat towards the city. All of them were worried for the safety of the boy, but none like the redhead. He felt guilt for leaving him behind. He thought he knew what was best for the boy. What did Rippen want with Steven anyway? All they could do at that point was hope they made it back in time.


	4. Ship Wrecked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this took so long to finish. I just started college and I got hella busy. But now I've finished it! I've really enjoyed writing this story. As for many of these stories, this started off as a one shot, but grew to something more. I'm sad to have this end, but happy that it was done. :')

The trio had made it back to the house, still wet from when they had been capsized. Their attention was immediately taken up above the stairs to their side to a luminescent box. They saw images of animated fruit in tears. Penn called for the boy in hopes that he was watching the show. No answer. They activated their weapons and crept up the stairs. The eerie sight only made them more cautious. They called to him more, no answer. When they reached the top of the stairs, he was no where in sight. Where had the child gone?

"Not very good babysitters, are you?" A familiar voice laughed.

"Rippen! What have you done to Steven?" Penn shouted as they placed their backs towards one another in a circle.

"Now, now, don't point the finger at me. You've scared the child away with your melodramatic nonsense. I'm just here to tell you that Larry and I are keeping a watchful eye on the boy." He chuckled.

Sashi roared, "Enough with these mind games! Where's Steven?"

"If you want to see him so badly, just look outside."

With that, the three sprinted out the door and down the stairs. The ocean was eerily calm. No sign of the boy. Had Rippen lied to them? Suddenly, a couple meters away, a large, bright pink glow glistened from the depths of the ocean. Brighter than the moon above, the strange light had broke through the surface. A large, pink orb had swallowed a small boat. A closer inspection revealed that Steven was inside. The frightened child looked back and saw their confused and frightened faces. Through all their time together, Rippen's new form was by far the most horrendous.

They had only trudged to knee deep water when large waves came towards them. Suddenly, Steven was rocked back and fourth by the waves as a lump tried to break from the surface. The boy had almost capsized as the three had, but he was saved by another wave, but the bubble had popped. From the water came a large, white bundle of hair. They made out bright, toxic green skin, serrated white teeth and four large, steel piercing eyes. Sickly emerald fingers grabbed hold of the bottom of Steven's boat and had lifted him to eye level.

"So, this is the pipsqueak with the incomprehensible power of Rose Quartz," he commented as he sneered at the shaken boy. "Pathetic."

"Put him down now!" Penn shouted. He threw his spear and sent it flying to the giants face, only to be dogged by a head tilt.

Rippen rolled his eyes. "Larry, can you take care of them? I'm kind of busy at the moment."

"Sure thing, boss," Larry said as he flew toward the trio from inside Rippen's pure white hair. Larry was almost the same color as him, but less sick looking, and hair that resembled the shape of a popular triangular chip. He used his right hand as a propellor and his left to launch yellow, electrical spheres at them. They gang quickly dogged the orbs, but had grown tired.

"Penn, you need to get to Steven. Boone and I will handle Larry," Sashi exclaimed as she punched through a few of the orbs.

Penn gave them a quick nod. He trudged a few more feet before he dove into the cold water. He looked back as he saw that his friends were having difficulty getting Larry, but he knew that they would find a way to take him down somehow.

Penn's arms felt like they were about to tear out from his shoulders. With every breath he took, it felt like he swallowed a hundred needles. Yet, he persisted. He had swam as close as to Rippen's stomach. He tried punching as hard as he could, only to damage his knuckles in the process. He thought that maybe if he tried to injure its legs, then maybe he would have more difficulty staying afloat and would then release his grip on the boat. He took a deep breath and swam down. Shocked, he had found that Rippen managed to stay afloat by circulating his four large, legs. Penn scratched his original idea and instead pulled out his spear from his gem. He aimed at the the front left knee and threw it, puncturing its skin deeply. Black ooze seeped out from the wound. He heard a muffled cry of pain from above. Penn's swam back to the surface only to have his breath taken away from the bone crushing pressure of Rippen's grasp. He too, lifted the hero to eye level.

"Was that really all you had to offer?" He exclaimed to the breathless teen. "That little stunt felt like nothing more than a mosquito bite-!" Rippen had felt a solid, rock like metal slam against his face as if a truck had smashed against his cheek. The force had made him loose his grip on the oxygen deprived hero.

While Rippen spoke, Steven had managed to fumble his way out of the boat and onto the creatures wrist. He ran up its green arm, while summoning his shield, and slammed it against his face. Steven jumped from its shoulder and fell toward his blue faced guardian. Penn grabbed Steven's hands, pulled him towards him and wrapped his arms around the boy as they fell. Steven was able to form a bubble before diving into the ocean.

Back on the shore, Sashi and Boone had grown frustrated at how little progress they made with defeating Larry. "This is pointless! We can't lay a finger on this guy," Sashi commented under her heavy breaths as she dodged and punched more of Larry's firepower.

Boone thought for a moment about other options. Then, an idea popped into his mind. "Sashi!" He called. "We have to dance."

"Are you kidding me? This is no time for-!"

"We have to if we're gonna save Penn and Steven!"

"But-!"

"Break it down, girl!"

What other options did they had? They were breathless and Larry had no intentions of stopping anytime soon. She didn't know where he was going at, but she listened. While they were able to moonwalk and while dodging Larry's cannon fire, Rippen splashed around the area to look for the two.

Deep under the monstrous mass, Steven and Penn had sunken to the ocean floor. The bright pink luminescence from the bubble helped illuminate enough to where they could see each other, but their surroundings were pitch black. The stray fish popped up every once in a while to investigate the strange light. Penn was amazed at the child's feat, but for only a moment.

"Once we roll back to shore, I want you to get back inside the house and stay there until we're done," Penn ordered.

"But I wanna help!" He protested. Steven was silent for a few seconds. "I get that you're trying to protect me, but I need to know what's going on. How can I be safe if you're not telling me anything? Shouldn't I have the right to know?"

Penn answered, "It's more complicated than you think. And we don't have the time to explain everything to you. The truth is..." Penn stared into his large eyes. Innocent, accepting eyes. He took a deep breath and added, "We're having more trouble dealing with Rip-with that thing and we don't understand how to defeat it. We feared that if you knew, you would try to get involved and put yourself in harms way. That's why we've been acting strange."

"But we've stopped her before. Remember?"

"We have?"

"Yeah! Well..." He scratched the back of his head. "Not really, since she kinda defeated herself... But we can try again?" There was a short enthusiasm in his face and his tone. "You and Amethyst can form Opal again! Maybe even Alexandrite! And then you can take her down and I can come in and-"

"Don't you get it Steven! Our mission is to protect you from that thing!" Penn had just exploded his stress and frustration into his voice. Steven's eyes widened with shock and fear. "We're up against something we know, but don't understand. I can't loose you!" Penn shouted. All the pent up frustration and rage showed in his tight voice. His hands balled into fists and he gritted his teeth. Heat emitted from his body. He vigorously ruffled his own curly hair and slammed his fist against the bubble. Thankfully, it hadn't popped. He took in a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He dared to not look back at the kid.

Out of the blue, the bubble had rocked them back and forth. Penn instinctively held onto the boy as he inspected their surroundings. When he looked nice them, they were met with four, glowing emerald eyes. On each side, a dark mass had cupped the bubble and had begun to take them back to the surface. When they broke through the water, they stared at a thin, toothy, sinister grin. They saw that he was struggling to break the bubble with his hands. Steven tried desperately to keep their shelter in tact, but it had broken under the pressure. Thankfully, a shadow had came from behind and punched the day lights out of the villain, while catching the to into its palm.

"Ohmigosh! It's Sugalite!" Steven cheered as he recognized their face.

"Wait. You two were able to fuse?"

"Don't make this any more awkward than it is," they said in their conjoined voice.

"But-How-What happened to Larry?" Rippen asked, in a strained voice.

The giant, purple being stuck their thumb over their shoulder. He stared behind and saw that all but Larry's head was buried beneath the sand. He seemed to be having the time of his life.

As Rippen massaged his sore jaw, Sugalite was able to land another punch on his stomach, knocking the air from his breath. Then another, and another, and another until they knocked his entire body out of the water and farther into the ocean. He had stayed submerged for a while.

"How did you get Sashi to dance?" Penn joked.

"It was more of a matter of life or death."

"Okay. Don't really know who's talking, but whatever. We need to get Steven to shore now-."

They heard a loud splash from the distance. A tunnel of water had shot straight at them. Surprisingly, the tube had carried a large shark inside it. Sugalite cracked a grin and punched the tube into mere droplets, launching the shark past the horizon. To their surprise, a long, green arm hurled toward them and punched them onto this back. Penn and Steven managed to grab hold of their fingers and stay put.

"Finally, a legal, perfectly good reason to punch a teenager square in the face," Rippen commented.

Rippen rose his left hands above his head has summoned a gigantic wave as tall as the statue carved onto the hill. The force had swept the fusion back to shore, where they had split up. Penn tried to hold onto Steven, but the rushing water had taken both of them to different parts of the sea. Penn tumbled and sunk into the depths, nearly having the air taken from his lungs. When the wave died down, he immediately swam up to the surface, not knowing where he was. The moment he had gasped for air, a blob of water had swallowed his head and lifted him high above the waves. Through his murky vision, he was the large, green silhouette. In its hands he could make out the child, clutched in Rippen's hand. His vision blurred and his cheeks grew sore. Steven was powerless as he watched Penn struggle to get out. Penn helplessly released his breath as the air bubbles escaped from his mouth. He then passed out from oxygen deprivation. His entire body went limp.

Rippen laughed even more. "Foolish children, not only do I have the power of Rose Quartz, but I also have Penn Zero! What a joyous day! The universe is mi-!" Suddenly, streaks of water shot up from the ocean and formed into chains. They wrapped themselves around the creatures wrists and neck. "What the- what's going on!?" He said with a strain in his voice. "Larry! Do something!"

"I can't. The weight of the sand is making it hard for me to move my arms and legs. Plus, I'm making a friend," he said while a crab crawled beside him; only to pinch his ear afterward.

What was happening to Rippen?

"Don't think you can escape from me!" A ghostly, raucous voice. It had released its grip on Steven, who managed to swim back to the boat, which was surprisingly unscathed. It sounded completely different from Rippen's, more feminine, more pained. This had startled everyone on the beach. No one had a single clue as to what had taken place at that moment. During the quarrel, the bubble that caged Penn had collapsed into small blocks. The green creature called out to the shaken boy the boat. The bottom pair of it's eyes gave a look of regret. It wasn't the same eyes that had the intent of evil. "Steven! Don't look for me!" The conjoined voice stated. "Stay away!" On that note, the entire body was consumed by the dark waters.

The red haired teen stayed afloat for a while before he too was submerged. His friends tried desperately to swim toward the sinking teen. And the boy on the boat rowed with all his might.

"Penn!"

"Pearl!"

________________________________________________

Penn was brought to the garden behind his house. He meaninglessly clipped the flowers away with yellow gloves on his hand and large scissors. Tulips, petunias, hydrangeas, roses. The summer roses. Yellow, red, pink. But he was taken somewhere further. His scissors disappeared and his gloves vanished. A place where the sweet smell of morning dew and moist petals grew faint. A place abundant in pink clouds. Penn was adrift in the gravity deprived space. He had finally been given the freedom to do his own business, but it was short lived. As he flew from cloud to cloud as joyous as he could be, he grew a sunken feeling in his chest. He grew breathless and anxious. His whole body later consumed in the sensation. Within a few blinks, he had fallen through the clouds and onto a strawberry patch. He gawked in awe at the endless miles of strawberries in the field. Swords and other artillery were lodged in the ground. Suddenly, he had slowly begun to sink into the mesh of strawberries. A dark red puddle had formed below him. He called for help, but doubted that anyone would hear his desperate calls. He clawed at the vines and dirt for a firm hold, but everything he touched seemed to melt into his hands. His body ached increasingly the more he tried to climb his way out. Eventually, he allowed the puddle the pro elide to take him. He had never felt so hopeless in his life. He closed his eyes and waited to be consumed.

"... pearl... peARL... PEARL!.."

From the distance, he saw a large silhouette run toward him. He was focused on the sight of fuchsia curls bouncing vigorously on the figure. He was then drawn to her glossy, rose lips, then to the pink gem protruding from her stomach. The statuesque woman was just a couple feet away from him. Penn stretched his hand out to the figure before he had been completely submerged. He floated aimlessly like a cloud with the weight of the world on it. The color had faded from a sea of ruby to deep blue. A force wrapped on his hand and pulled him up from the water. He broke through the waves and gasped in a deep breath of air.

"Rose?"

When Penn grabbed onto the stray hand, it seemed like the aurora hadn't vanished, even when he starred onto the eyes of the child. Steven helped him up onto the boat. Penn's breath was trapped in his chest. He was at a loss in his cold sweat, mixed with ocean water. He looked down to see the child's hand holding on to his trembling one. What on earth happened to him?

"Pearl?"

Penn let go of his hand and pulled his knees to his chest. He covered his trembling mouth with his hand and lowered his head. He hadn't experienced so many emotions coming to him in such a short period of time before. Not since he lost his parents. His heart wrenched in agony and his mind wrapped in bewilderment. His body felt sore and icy. Suddenly, a familiar warmth wrapped around his body. They stayed silent until they reached the shore.

"Pearl? Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Steven had begun to form tears on the edges of his eyes.

Penn turned his head to see his friends sprinting towards him. They quickly came to his side and helped him off the boat and back up on his feet. Penn's knees gave under his weight and he collapsed onto the sand. His friends came down beside him. The child came to his side as well.

"Pearl?"

Penn gave off a crooked, tremulous smile. He blurted, "I-I'm so sorry I yelled at you. It's just-I got so frustrated because I didn't know what was going on. I was afraid I was going to lose the group. I was afraid I was going to lose you. "

Steven smiled. "It's okay. People act weird and angry when they're scared, but you have to remember to talk to me. I don't want you to have the weight of the world on your shoulders."

With that, all three of them tightly hugged him. This child, the one they had risked their lives to save, had become their world. He needed to be protected, yet, he protects others over himself. Kind, disciplined, faithful, Steven was more human than any other person imaginable. Boone even called him a precious cinnamon child.

Steven cried even more. "W-Why do I-I feel like you guys are l-leaving?"

"B-Because we are, but technically w-we're n-not." Boone sobbed

"I don't know what that means, but I'm gonna miss you!"

"W-We'll see you r-real soon," Sashi added.

Penn wiped a tear from the edge of his eye. He pulled back from the hug and said, "Remember Steven," he pointed to the left side of Steven's chest, "that gem is just as important as the one on your belly. Make sure you never lose sight of what you believe in."

They all went in for another embrace. When the trio opened their eyes, they had transported back to the landing pad. They looked back to see that the original Crystal Gems had continued their lengthy embrace.

"I'm gonna miss that kid," Sashi said as she wiped her tears.

When they looked up, used tissues covered a majority of the machinery on the balcony. Phyllis appeared from behind the rail of the balcony with her mascara smeared and her eyes reddened. She immediately fixed her makeup. "Looks like your mission was a success. Well done."

Strange. They would walk out the rundown movie theater as if nothing had happened. They would live on life with the sweet, but bitter taste of victory for having saved someone. How lonesome. Before they left, Penn brought a question. "When I was kinda dying, why did I have those weird dreams?"

Once Phyllis shut off the generator, along with the screen, she replied, "Those weren't dreams. Those were memories."

Confusion and disbelief filled the room. Boone and Sashi both stared at the hero. He had never encountered any situation where he had received memories from the original host. Until now.

Phyllis continued, "When you take place of hero in other dimension, you become hero physically. Sometimes, with mind and body, even soul. If the hero from the other dimension has strong emotions. Even so, they would have needed a lot toads it on to you. Basically, you tapped into original mind and got memories."

"Wow, that's a lot to take in." He added as he rubbed the back of his neck and starred down at his shoes. "So, did I actually... care about Steven? Or was it the hosts feelings that got the best of me.?"

Phyllis shrugged her shoulders.

"What!?" Boone exclaimed. He slammed his hands on his shoulders. "Of course you care about him! He risked his life trying to protect us! Who wouldn't love that precious ball of sunshine?"

"Listen to him PZ. Steven cares about us, and you definitely care about him. There's no doubt about that."

Penn cracked a small smile. "Yeah... You're right." He placed his palm on his forehead and laughed. His shoulders bounced up and down with every chuckle. "What was I thinking?" He added. His laugh slowly turned into a soft weep. Tears rolled down his reddened cheeks. He sobbed, "I'm going to miss him." He wiped his tears away with his wrists as his friends comforted him.

"Sometimes, Hero must stay strong for the team. But, that doesn't mean heroes don't cry. Letting go is the hardest part of this job," said Phyllis.

Boone and Sashi walked their friend outside the doors of the theater and onto the street, illuminated by a setting sun. Rippen's car was gone, meaning he must have lost real bad if he left before the heroes. They walked down a few blocks, Penn weeped silently. They stopped at a red light.

"Hey," he blurted. "Know what I'm gonna do once I get home?"

"What?" They both asked.

He smiled at both his friends. It was a content smile. He wrapped his arms around the back of their necks and pulled the close. The light had just turned green. "I'm going to tell Aunt rose to keep the roses."


End file.
